She Was Vanilla
by CrimsonAcid
Summary: Hermione spent about two month alone with Harry and Ron and thought herself in love, unfortunately the feelings weren't returned. Ron and Harry thought her vanilla, but two sly Slytherins were going to show her that she was chocolate. DHB
1. She Is Vanilla

AN: This is a two part one shot. It was too long just to post it on one shot. Plus I want FEEDBACK!! By the way this Blaise is Italian.

Disclaimer- I don't own...no matter how hard I wish

It was about a month after Dumbledore's death when the Golden Trio and Remus Lupin decided to move away from Grimmauld Place and train in the Dead Forest near Wizard London. They had done field training to improve agility, stealth, stamina, and equilibrium. Running through a forest which was filled with creatures just waiting for the precise moment you dropped your guard to feast on you was more than enough motivation for even Ron and Harry. Harry and Ron had begun training with swords: if their plan worked as they hoped, magic would not help them. Hermione had learned a variety of spells from the elves who hid the woods from the Muggles, and was learning how to modify spells along with how to shoot a bow and arrow. Remus had become a great teacher and during the full moon he had inadvertently taught Hermione how to tame a werewolf. Ron and Harry had recovered form that night fairly well; they only carried the bruised egos of being saved by Hermione yet again.

They had greatly improved their physique, which Harry and Ron showed off whenever they could. Hermione was more discrete; she still wore the same clothes as always, but Remus could tell they were looser in some places and tighter in others. Hermione had grown up, and the only ones who seemed to notice were the elves with whom she trained, and Remus. She, Harry, and Ron spent little to no time together during the day since they didn't train together, but they made up for it during the mornings and nights when they spent almost every waking moment together. They had got closer, or at least Hermione thought that they had got closer. The boys talked to her more, teased her less, and even shared a tent with her, a Muggle tent. The training had been hard, but it had improved all aspects of their lives, right down to cooking – after all, you couldn't get a takeaway in the middle of the forest. After the month they had all agreed that it was time to go back home, or the only home Harry had left. However, the great return they were expecting didn't exactly happen as planned.

"I'm hungry! Why did you make us carry all the equipment, anyway?" Ron complained to Remus as they walked into the deserted house; well, almost deserted house.

"Because Hermione …" Remus's voice died out as he saw the three unlikeliest people standing right in front of him.

"You!" Harry growled as he took out his wand and pointed it at the tallest person.

"Professor?" Hermione asked, dropping her bags; the others followed and put theirs down. Right in front of them, looking almost nonchalant, were Severus Snape, Draco Malfoy, and Blaise Zabini. "What are you doing here?"

"What the hell does that matter, Hermione, they are here and soon they won't be at all," Ron said as he pointed his wand at Draco Malfoy.

"What is going on, Severus? You wouldn't be stupid enough to return here without a damn good reason," Remus said as his hand clenched.

"I told you this was a bad idea," Blaise said as he looked at every single one of them. His eyes stopped and rested on Hermione for a fraction longer than the others, but it was enough to get Hermione to react. She reached out and attempted to lower Harry and Ron's wands.

"Hermione, what the hell are you doing?" Ron asked, clearly pissed off.

"Stop taking their side; be on my side for once!" Harry pleaded as he turned towards her. Hermione softened her look and smiled.

"I'm always going to be on your side, Harry, but right now we need to find out why they are here," she said softly; she attempted to lower their wands once again, but they remained fixed on the three Slytherins.

"You are always taking their sides, whether it's Krum or Snape. I can't believe you always choose the enemy over us! What's next, are you going to become You-Know-Who's whore?" Ron asked angrily. Unfortunately, he didn't realize what he had said in time to stop himself. The Slytherins realized Ron's mistake way before he had any time to react and anxiously awaited Hermione's reaction. They knew that whatever was about to happen would not be pleasant for Ron. After all, they knew very well the rage of one Hermione Granger. Hermione gave him a cold look, but the last thing he saw was her wand pointed right between his eyes. Within seconds he was on the floor, Harry right next to him, trying to make sure he was okay.

"Hermione, what did you do?" Harry asked, worried; he was torn between being angry at Ron for what he said or pissed off at Hermione for hexing him. She turned from them and sheathed her wand again. The Slytherins tried to figure out just what exactly Hermione had done.

"He will be fine, take him to the library." Hermione knew that his worry over Ron would make him listen to her; he wasn't going to risk losing anyone else. He took him to the library, but was ready to go back to the foyer as soon as Ron was secured. His plan was stopped in their tracks as soon as he left the foyer. "Remus, please make sure they do not disturb us, don't worry, I'll be fine." She turned to him and gave him a sad smile. Remus smiled back and rubbed his knuckles against her cheek in comfort before leaving. She magicked their bags away and started to walk to the kitchen, expecting the others to follow her and only stopping when she couldn't hear any footsteps behind her. She turned to see that they were indeed not following her. She shrugged her shoulders and kept walking to the kitchen; if they wanted to talk she would be the only one available and willing to listen, so they would come sooner or later. Blaise saw her shrug and pointed it out to Draco; Draco couldn't help himself and taunted her.

"Look at that: the little Mudblood is all bravery letting the wolves in to dine." Draco stood and followed after her. In a world where nothing ever made sense he knew that she would, because no matter how much she changed she would always be the same to him. Blaise followed after him, shaking his head, clearly amused.

"You should know that sometimes a wolf hides in sheep's clothing, Malfoy, although then again sometimes they hide in ferret's clothing." She smirked at him and Blaise looked almost amazed.

"Do stop playing, children," Severus said snidely as he sat on the chair across Hermione. Hermione nodded and got up to start making tea, she needed to keep herself occupied.

"So, what brings you to our lovely abode?" Hermione asked, feigning gaiety. "By the look of this house you probably just arrived maybe a couple of hours ago. Everything is just as I left it except cleaner; I'll have to thank Dobby for that. You obviously haven't come here to kill us or we would be dead by now and if you are planning on capturing us we would not be here. If I'm to guess, you three have probably been looking for us and heard we were coming back, maybe from Dobby himself." She had taken out four tea cups and placed them on a tray; she placed the teakettle in the center and next to it some milk, sugar, lemon, and honey, then carried the tray to the table and let them serve themselves. As if by magic – and it probably was – an array of scones and biscuits showed up.

"So obviously our intentions for coming here must be noble. Really, Miss Granger, how naïve are you?" Severus sneered. Hermione smiled sardonically.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I don't expect much from you; actually I don't expect anything from you, but before Sirius died he and I did a little spell and if you are in this house then your intentions are not to harm us. In any case, no magic you do will harm us." Hermione smiled mysteriously and inhaled the fragrances of her tea.

"What makes you so sure?" Blaise asked, intrigued.

"Dumbledore's death," she replied simply. The youngest males looked confused, but Professor Snape looked almost horrified. She gave him a sad smile and he realized just what she meant.

"Surely you weren't so foolish as to do it?" Severus asked, troubled.

"I have come to realize that sometimes Dark Magic is better than White Magic, Professor. I had no choice but to do it: if I wanted to keep Ron and Harry safe, during the summer at least, I had to lend my magic to it. Such a forbidden spell took a lot out of me, but it came back twofold during this month. As long as I live in this house and stay near them, the only magic strong enough to kill them is Voldemort's; the most an Avada from you can do is send them into a coma. Sirius and Dumbledore took great pains to protect them from everyone who could harm them except each other and Voldemort."

"Why do you keep saying them?" Blaise asked curiously.

"Because it seems the Mudblood pet didn't get any protection from the Great Dumbledore," Draco answered.

"You are partly right. The spell was meant only for Harry and Ron, since they are the ones who would be facing Voldemort face to face. Dumbledore decided that my magic would benefit everyone the best if it was used to protect them; after all, my intelligence would stay intact even if my magic drained. Unfortunately, his plan failed thanks to Sirius' last gift to me." Hermione looked away wistfully for a moment before she resumed explaining. "He knew that the main focus would always be Harry and maybe even Ron, but I would become so reliable and constant that I would naturally fade into the background. So during the summer before fifth year he enchanted me so that if I was ever faced with having to lose my magic, a small enough portion would be left so that I had the chance to reacquire it."

"You put a lot of faith in those two fools." Severus commented icily.

"I only had to put my faith in one. Anyway, we aren't here to talk about me, but about what you want. I will assume that they –" she pointed to Draco and Blaise, "will need refuge and that you need a liaison with the Order."

"You are too trusting," Severus said, shaking his head.

"But I am right. Think of it as part two of Sirius's gift. No one who comes here with ill will in their hearts can enter the house."

"That mutt seems to have come up with a lot of "gifts"; I assume you helped him, of course." Hermione shrugged.

"It was the least I could do. So tell me. Did Dumbledore ask you to kill him or did you decide that his death would be best for everyone?" Hermione didn't even flinch at asking him such a delicate question; she needed to know, and it was as simple as that. Severus shook with emotion; Hermione was pretty sure that he would lash out, but she didn't care. She just cleared the table in case he started throwing things. Draco and Blaise just sat back and watched with mild amusement at what went on between Hermione and Severus.

"What gives you the right to question me? I did what I did and I do not need to justify myself to you, you ignorant girl. The reason I killed him was not a noble one so get that idea out of your head. Not everyone can be saved with your childish notions. I killed him and that's that; the only reason I'm here is because these two need protection." He visibly shook, his hands were clenched at his side and Hermione noticed that he had flushed with anger. She gave him a small smile and stood up.

"So he did tell you to kill him." She shrugged "I thought as much. Do relax, Professor, I didn't invade your mind or anything of the sort, but your reaction was enough. Now, please follow me and I will take you to your quarters."

"Insufferable, infuriating, naïve chit," Severus muttered as he followed her out the door and the others followed.

"Granger one, Snape zero," Blaise muttered to Draco as they followed behind them. Hermione took them to what used to be her and Ginny's room and opened the door to reveal three beds and two drawers.

"You have got to be kidding me! Who the hell are we sharing with? Why do we need to share; this house seems big enough for everyone to have their own rooms," Draco complained as he entered the room. Blaise just flopped onto a bed and tested its comfort.

"You will be sharing with me." Hermione smiled widely at them and turned back to Severus. "Are you still going to spy on Voldemort for us, or am I going to have to go and find another spy?" She gave him the most charming smile she could muster and watched him scowl in return. Draco and Blaise had been shell-shocked into silence, but she was sure that wasn't going to last.

"Miss Granger, if possible I think you have got more reckless and idiotic than those two boys you call your friends."

"I'll take that as you agreeing to remain a spy." Her face fell and she was back to being serious. "No one can know about this so we will have to meet outside of the house; this place is going to become a safe house soon and we don't need the extra drama. Take this; when you have information just think of me and hold it." She handed him a long, black feather. "It's not a Portkey or anything so you won't have to worry about it, it will just react with my feather and I'll know you want to meet." Hermione looked back to the men lying on the beds behind her; they were getting ready to pounce.

"What of location, Miss Granger?" Severus placed the feather inside his cloak.

"That will come to you." She tensed and turned her head. "I think its time for you to go, looks like Harry and Ron have been set free." Severus didn't say goodbye or even wave, he just turned around and walked away. This left her with her roommates.

"What do you mean, you are our roommate?" Draco asked, his fist clenching. He didn't really want to think of what he was capable of with her in the same room.

"I think it means that one of those two beds is hers," Blaise teased.

"I know that, but why is she sleeping in here? Did Potty and Weasel kick you out of their club? Or are you afraid that we'll hex them while they sleep?" Draco had a nasty smile on his face, but Hermione ignored it and flopped down on the bed nearest to the door.

"I call this bed, and it's not Harry and Ron I'm worried about. Anyway your bags have obviously already been brought up so pick a dresser because you two will be sharing." She looked like she was about to say something else, but the banging on the door stopped her. "Stand back if you know what's good for you." Hermione opened the door and quickly shut it behind her.

"Are they in there?" Ron asked furiously.

"Yes; they will be staying with us, its all set," Hermione replied calmly.

"How can you decide that by yourself, Hermione? This house is mine; I won't let them stay here." Harry was pissed off, but she could tell he was holding himself in check for her sake. She loved him more for that; she gave him a sad smile.

"They are refugees, Harry. Voldemort didn't like the fact that Draco couldn't do his mission, or the fact that Blaise couldn't choose a side. We agreed that this house would be a haven for those hunted down by Voldemort," Hermione explained patiently. By now Remus had joined them.

"They aren't refugees, they are spies. How can you be so blind? Stop protecting them; that's all you do, protect them. What about us?" Ron raised his wand and cast the _bombarda_ spell.

"NO!!" Hermione screamed as she pushed Ron out of the way; however that caused the backfired spell to hit her square on the chest.

"Hermione!" Remus cried out as he picked her up.

"Ron, what did you do?" Harry asked, near hysterics.

"I just wanted to open the door; none of the other spells had worked." Ron replied automatically with out emotion. Hermione coughed up blood and stretched out her hand towards Harry and Ron.

"It's okay. It's my fault; I cast a spell to stop you from going in. I didn't think you guys would resort to such volatile spells. I'm glad neither of you got hurt." She was speaking softly, blood still pouring out of her mouth. Her face was contorted in pain, her hands still trying to reach theirs, but they wouldn't grab them. They were still too upset, too mad, too confused. She smiled softly and closed her eyes.

"No, Hermione open your eyes. Come on, open your eyes." Remus said as he tried to open her eyes. He slapped her face lightly, trying to get some reaction, but all he got was moan after moan.

"What the hell happened?" Draco asked as he opened the door. He and Blaise had been listening to the exchange going outside of their room for sometime waiting for Ron to say something stupid so that Hermione could hex him. However, what they heard was quiet different to what they expected and it almost scared them. They had undone the spell Hermione had cast and opened the door to see Hermione Granger in the arms of Remus Lupin while blood seeped out of her mouth.

"Merlin! Granger, what happened to her?" Blaise asked as he rushed forward and grabbed her hand.

"She is dying. The spell Ron said backfired and would have hit him had she not jumped in the way," Remus explained as a lone tear made its way down his cheek. She was so young, so beautiful, so full of life and intelligence; it didn't seem like a fitting end.

"Her pulse is waning; I may be able to help," Blaise said as he took Hermione away from Remus.

"Don't touch her!" Ron growled as he stood up and pointed his wand at Blaise. Harry was on the floor, touching the blood left behind by Hermione, and Remus looked furious. Draco was too stunned to say much until he noticed Ron pointing a wand at Blaise, who was carrying a dying Hermione.

"Listen, Weasel, put your wand down if you don't want her to get hurt even more. It seems like you have caused enough damage, put your wand away now or I will give you something you truly deserve," Draco threatened, his own wand pointing at Ron. His eyes glowed with anger and maybe a hint of fear. Ron lowered his wand and stepped back.

"Take him away, Harry," Remus said as he joined the men who would save Hermione's life. Blaise took his wand and began to wave it across Hermione's form, the white light it had been emanating turned red. Blaise bit his lip.

"She has substantial hemorrhaging. The spell must have broken her ribs and caused them to puncture her lung. She is going to drown in her own blood if we don't move fast." Blaise called over a bag he had brought and opened it retrieving a surplus of potions and instruments. "I'll need to fix the broken ribs first and we have to hurry. Pass me a syringe filled with orange liquid. This is an instant version of Skelegro; it will go directly into the blood system and fix her broken bones within seconds. Now pass me that purple vial. I can't risk her spitting anything out, so do me a favor and hand me an empty syringe. This should stop the bleeding long enough for me to fix her lung." He spoke to them to keep them and himself calm. At this moment he had never been gladder he decided to take that Medi-wizard internship. He loved the thrill of helping someone else and he was almost done with his training; all he needed was the two years of practical use and he was done.

He cast a spell on her lungs and a giant breath seemed to be sucked in. "Quick, turn her on her side." They did as they were told and Hermione vomited a dull, red substance. Remus and Draco looked horrified so Blaise tried to reassure them. "Its okay, it's just the side effects of the potion and the blood which had been pooling in her lungs. I will give her a sleeping draft and put her to sleep. She should be awake by tomorrow morning."

Remus nodded and laid down next to her on the bed. He removed his wand and changed her clothes into an overgrown white tee shirt. He cleaned up the mess the blood had made and started stroking her hair.

"She shouldn't do anything too strenuous after this," Blaise said as he gave Remus a cold, calculating look.

"You don't know her very well; its okay, you will learn the ways she behaves soon," Remus said as he placed his head down on the pillow and took her hand into his.

"We don't want to hear that in the middle of the night so please put some charms on or something," Draco said, disgusted. _It'd figure that the brightest witch to ever grace Hogwarts since Rowena Ravenclaw would fall in love with an older man, _Draco thought bitterly. _But why the hell did it need to be the damn werewolf and why did it have to be in my room! _

"You are misunderstanding. Hermione and I are not intimate with each other. I love her, yes, but we aren't together in any sense of the word other than friendship." Remus didn't remove his eyes from Hermione, he just stared at her and rubbed circles on the back of her hand.

"I suggest you go and get the two prats she calls her friends," Blaise said icily. Remus stood up, gave her one last good look and walked out the door.

"Blaise, she still looks deathly pale," Draco said, sitting at the edge of her bed.

"I know, but that spell really did a number on her insides. She is going to have a bruise for a long time." Blaise sat on the other side of the bed and grabbed one of her hands. Draco and Blaise were best friends and occasional lovers; they had been for a year, but that was no one's business except their own. They shared everything together, especially an infatuation with Hermione Granger, Gryffindor Princess, Book Worm Extraordinaire. They weren't sure when it happened, but it had and it hadn't hit them fully until they were on the run with the possibility of never seeing her again.

"They claim to love her and even be her best friends, but what kind of twisted friend does what they just did to her?" Draco asked, trembling with anger. He had almost lost her and he hadn't even had a chance to gain her. This was his and Blaise's chance to win her over in her own environment with no opposition from anyone except for Hermione's two "best friends". Blaise and Draco heard a muffled Ron coming up the stairs and were about to jump away when Hermione grabbed Blaise's hand. Draco grabbed the first potion he found and threw it at Blaise who caught it just in time. The door swung open and in walked Harry, Ron and Remus.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked suspiciously. Blaise had a potion in his hand and was sitting right next to Hermione.

"I was going to apply this salve to Granger's bruises to help her sleep better," Blaise answered as he untangled his hand away from Hermione's and reached for the hem of her shirt.

"Don't even think about it, Zabini. Let her rest, she can do that to herself tomorrow," Harry said, stopping Blaise's hand.

"Fine." He threw Draco the potion and went to his bed and sat. "But if she wakes up moaning and groaning then you will be held responsible along with Weasel for starting this." Harry and Ron had the sense to lower their heads in shame before sitting on either side of Hermione.

"She will be fine, right?" Harry asked to no one in particular.

"Of course she will. Hermione wouldn't let a stupid spell defeat her," Ron said confidently. Harry relaxed and grabbed her hand squeezing it tightly before letting go. Ron mimicked his movements and they both stood up.

"We'll sleep here, to make sure she sleeps comforably," Harry said as he positioned himself on the bed.

"I'm afraid not, Harry. Hermione needs her rest and she won't get it if you are both in bed with her." Ron who had just been about to lay himself down froze. An arguement soon ensued between the five men in the room with a triumphant Remus, Draco, and Blaise. Harry and Ron were not at all thrilled with the outcome, but agreed under the threat of maim.

"Good night, 'Mione," Harry said as he walked out.

"We will see you tomorrow," Ron added as he too left, cursing the men in the room to hell.

"I guess it is later than we thought," Remus said as he looked out the window to see the night sky. "I'll let you three get some sleep." Remus closed the door and Blaise raised the barrier Hermione had placed up earlier. Blaise and Draco looked at Hermione once more before going to bed themselves, still dressed in their normal clothes.

The next day Hermione woke up with a groan. She tried to sit up, but her chest sent a painful message to her brain. It felt like it was on fire. She briefly remembered the spell hitting her and someone who looked a lot like Blaise helping her. She gingerly sat up and tenderly placed a hand on her chest. She winced and removed her hand; she had a bruise, but otherwise she seemed to be fine. She stood up, walked to her dresser and removed two potions, one a shiny purple and the other a deep orange. She took some clothes and headed for the bathroom.

Blaise and Draco woke up when they heard the door close and checked Hermione's bed; it was empty.

"Where the hell did she go?" Draco asked Blaise.

"How the hell am I supposed to know, I didn't know it was my turn to watch her," Blaise replied.

"You said she should not move for the next few days; this counts as moving, dumb arse," Draco said as he rounded at Blaise.

"I said she shouldn't do strenuous activities, you prat! Moving is not strenuous," Blaise retorted. They were getting aggravated at each other for not being able to find Hermione. She was hurt; she shouldn't be moving around with out someone there to help her.

"This is ridiculous. I don't want to argue with you, let's go find her," Draco said as he grabbed Blaise's hand and dragged him out of the room. They went downstairs first and checked the kitchen, but didn't see anyone. They looked outside, in the library, in the study, every part of the ground floor, but could not find her anywhere. They climbed the stairs to begin checking the first floor when they spotted Hermione exiting a room. Hermione heard the heavy footsteps of two males approaching her and looked up.

"Thanks for yesterday Blaise, I owe you my life," Hermione said, smiling at him warmly.

"Yes, well, the best way to repay that would be to keep your arse in bed," Draco said snidely. Hermione smiled and walked past him to their room.

"Relax, Malfoy, I'm perfectly fine now," Hermione said shaking her head. "Who would have thought you cared so much." Hermione had learned not to obsess about the little things. The elves she had trained with had taught her that being cool, calm and collected paid off and that just because she was a Gryffindor didn't mean that she had to let her courage get the best of her. In other words, stop letting your feelings rule you and think. She had learned to do that and now her little spars with Malfoy served to remind her of better days.

"Stop being so damn pleasant and go to the room." Draco was infuriated: how could she smile and not fight back?

"Yes, master." Hermione giggled. "Seriously though, Malfoy, if you keep screaming you are going to wake the others and I will lock you out of the room and leave you to deal with them." She entered the room and placed the two empty potion bottles on her dresser and her clothes in a bag near the closet. Draco growled and slammed the door shut.

"Are you sure you are alright?" Blaise asked, grabbing his wand. Hermione gave him a reassuring smile and nodded.

"Yeah, I took care of the rest of the problems. I supposed that neither Harry nor Ron wanted you to take care of my bruises, since it would mean you actually touching me. I already took care of that and I took a replenishing potion for my energy and blood. I have to go now, I hear Remus downstairs." She was out before either of them could say anything.

"I think Lupin was right about her," Blaise said as he followed her out.

"Woman, you are going to get yourself killed and leave me with out any fun," Draco called out as he followed them.

"I'm touched, Malfoy," Hermione replied sarcastically. "I already told you that I was fine. I didn't know you were hard of hearing. Are you getting old?" Hermione was entering the kitchen when Remus heard her comment.

"Ouch, 'Mi," Remus said, laughing.

"I know you are," Hermione said as she laid a kiss on his cheek. "But don't worry, you still have your handsomely good looks, amazing intelligence, ongoing stamina, and a wonderful personality. Meanwhile he has nothing but a name." Hermione took a piece of bacon from his plate and dodged his hand which was about to smack hers. "You might want to work on those reflexes, though."

"No amount of flattery is getting me to let you eat out of my plate," Remus said, moving his plate away.

"I'll make desert if you make me breakfast," Hermione said, giving him a dazzling smile. "It will be chocolate," she added in a sing-song voice. Remus looked like he was weighing his options before he stood up and walked to the stove.

"Alright, but you have to make coffee and tea; Merlin knows that no one in this house knows how to make a cup of tea and coffee like you," Remus said, getting everything he needed for her breakfast. The Slytherins just sat back and watched the exchange. Hermione definitely had a little Slytherin in her. "I suppose you two would like breakfast as well." Remus said as he acknowledged the two young men on the opposite side of the table.

"I'll just have tea and maybe some fruit," Draco said with disgust. Breakfast was not his favorite meal time.

"No thanks, I'm good with cereal and coffee," Blaise said as he walked over to the refrigerator.

"Why were you three arguing?" Remus asked as he started serving Hermione her breakfast.

"Malfoy was coddling me," Hermione answered seriously. Remus let out a deep throaty laugh and almost burned himself.

"I told you she wouldn't stay in bed and rest," he said, still laughing.

"I'm glad you find this so amusing, Lupin," Blaise said, eating his cereal.

"If it's not too much trouble I have a long day ahead of me so I would like to keep the verbal exercises to a minimal."

"This reminds me: Charlie, Fred, George, and Ginny are coming in today. After I told them what happened they almost showed up there and then, but with the help of Molly I managed to convince them that it would be best to let you sleep." Draco and Blaise groaned; like they really wanted more of her posse here.

"Molly isn't coming?" Hermione asked curiously.

"They managed to convince her Ron would be safer if she stayed home," Remus said, laughing. Hermione served the tea and coffee before sitting down and taking a bite out of her eggs. She made a sound somewhere between a satisfied groan and moan before she continued talking.

"So are you up for it today? I understand if you want to relax until the Weasleys come; after all, we have been doing it all month." Draco and Blaise both chocked on their food and turned to glare at the couple.

"Can you not talk about your sordid escapades in front of us," Blaise said, irritated. Hermione turned a bright red when she realized her comments could clearly be interpreted wrongly.

"I … I mean we aren't … Remus and I …" She was stuttering and had grown, if possible, a darker shade of red.

"Spit it out, Granger," Draco said, agitated.

"Like I said yesterday, Hermione and I aren't sleeping together," Remus said, clearly annoyed.

"Sure doesn't sound like it," Draco said skeptically. Why couldn't they just own up to it?! Things would be so much simpler for him if they just owned up to it.

"I was talking about my training. That's why we have been gone for a month; we were training in the Dead Forest," Hermione explained. "Look, there really isn't much to do in this house so if you want you can come train with us."

"My, my, Granger, aren't you the lovely hostess," Draco sneered.

"You can join us or not, it's up to you." Hermione placed her and Remus's plates in the sink and walked away with a trailing Remus.

"This is going to be harder than I thought," Blaise said as he placed his dishes in the sink.

"She makes it impossible," Draco said, taking the last sip of his tea.

"No, you do. Goodness, Draco, stop making fun of her and try to get along. She seems to be making the effort." Blaise cornered Draco against the counter and effectively trapped him in the middle by placing his arms on either side of him. "If you want _Cara_ to be ours you are going to have to show her you are seriously interested in her." He nuzzled Draco's neck and bit him lightly. Draco groaned and bucked his hips against Blaise.

"It's not like I can suddenly revert six years of behavior," Draco said between clenched teeth. Blaise was doing wonderful things to his body. He grabbed Blaise's hair and roughly pulled him up, kissing him with conviction. Blaise moaned into the kiss and Draco took advantage to deepen it. Their hands were all over each other, groping, teasing, pulling until they heard a door open and close. "Fuck!" Draco whispered and they tried to gain their bearings. They arranged their robes and headed upstairs to see just what training Hermione had been talking about. When they walked upstairs they were met by Hermione, a very sexy Hermione.

They knew nothing good could come from the staring, but it was hard not to. Hermione was standing there wearing a pair of blue cotton shorts and a black tank top. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, but a few strands of hair framed her face. She was biting her lip and fidgeting back and forth in an uncomfortable gesture, but they couldn't stop staring. Her legs were long and tanned, her figure was athletic, her hips were wide, her breasts of average size, but in that small tank top and tight sports bra her breasts looked more than ripe for the picking. Their lewd fantasies were stopped, however, when Remus came out of a room.

"I still don't understand why you won't wear something like that more often," Remus said as he walked past her and threw her a towel.

"Because I feel exposed. I like my baggy clothes, they're comfortable. Plus, Ginny made me promise not to go shopping without her anymore and those are the only clothes I have." Hermione followed Remus, and every once in a while looked behind her to make sure the others were following. Remus chuckled and stopped in front of a door. He tapped his wand to it three times and it opened to show a training room. The center of the room was covered in blue mats, the sides had weapons of different sorts, and a dummy was in a corner of the room. One wall was covered with a giant mirror, giving Draco and Blaise some rather lewd ideas. Hermione placed her towel on top of the weapons table and walked over to the center of the room.

"Are you two going to watch or participate, because if you are going to participate you should probably change clothes," Remus said as he looked them over. Draco and Blaise looked at each other and then shook their heads. Certain body parts could be better hidden in robes, they decided silently. Remus shrugged and walked towards the mat.

"Warm up?" he asked, sitting on the floor with his legs crossed. Hermione nodded and sat in front of him. For a few minutes neither moved and both Draco and Blaise came to the conclusion that this was going to be very boring, that is until both Remus and Hermione moved. All of a sudden Hermione was lying on the mat doing a split, but she didn't stay that way for long – her torso bent back, her legs shifted positions and she was doing a split in mid air, then her legs came together and she pushed herself up into a standing position. Remus on the other hand was doing various yoga positions. Finally, both stood up and started to do some tai-chi. Draco and Blaise were certainly glad they had opted to stay sitting down. Hermione and Remus stopped simultaneously and faced each other.

"Ready?" Hermione smirked. Remus nodded and they charged at each other. Hermione dropped to the floor during the last second and swung her legs at Remus's feet; he lost his balance, but remained standing. Hermione stood up and smirked; Draco was pretty sure she had taken lessons, because that smirk was worthy of a Slytherin.

"You will have to try harder than that," Remus said; turning around, he charged at her, feigning a left jab to hit her with a right hook, but he hadn't expected her to punch him straight in the chest. He fell back, the air almost knocked out of him.

"Tsk tsk tsk. My, my, my little wolf, I thought you were better than that," Hermione taunted as she charged him once again. He was ready for a head on collision, not for her to jump up mid attack and kick him in the head. Remus fell backwards and Hermione stood over him.

"Wow, Granger is kicking his ass!" Draco said, amused; who knew Hermione was so violent? Hermione leaned over him, probably to make sure he was okay, and he grabbed her and turned them over, pinning her to the mat.

"Never let your guard down," Remus said triumphantly.

"Never underestimate your opponent and their ability to play dirty." Hermione looked down at his groin and out of reflex Remus covered himself, letting Hermione free and giving her a chance to flip him and lock him into place in the most erotic way. Hermione had his hands pinned on to his side and her thighs were strangling him.

"What a way to go," Blaise whispered to Draco as he rearranged himself. Hermione stood up and, a little worried, checked his vital signs. She blew out a breath of relief and walked over to a small refrigerator, and took out an ice cube, popping it in her mouth. She then walked over to Remus and placed the ice cube under his shirt; he woke up with a hiss. He stood up and stretched a bit.

"You okay?" Hermione asked, concerned.

"Yeah." He gave her a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his head and neck. "How about next time you don't knock me unconscious though?" Remus said, embarrassed. Hermione giggled and took a fighting stance.

"Sorry, I'm just used to it. The elves who taught me expected it, they said it helped me come to terms with what I had to do. In any case I told you not to hold back." Hermione grinned and Remus nodded his head. This time Remus charged at Hermione and she kept backing up until she was near a table. Remus thought he had her cornered until she jumped on top of it. "Come on, wolf, you going to let little old me escape?" She ran along the table, jumped off, caught the corner of the table and used it as leverage to spin kick him in the chest. She got a good hit, but he grabbed her leg and threw her back to the mat. She let out a chuckle, and stood up preparing herself for her next move.

"What are you laughing at, kitty?" Remus asked, amused.

"At your face when I do this." She flipped towards him and she wrapped her legs around his neck before flipping him over onto his back.

"Why do I always end up like this?" Remus groaned. Hermione had him on the floor, once again, with her thighs wrapped around his neck. She shrugged and helped him up.

"Do you think he will be able to beat her?" Blaise asked Draco, curiously watching the spar.

"If I was him, I wouldn't even try. I would not mind going out the way he is," Draco replied. In the end, Hermione beat him five times and he won four times.

"Those elves do a good job; let's see how much better you have got with a bow and arrow," Remus said, walking over to a weapons table. He grabbed a bow and handed her the arrows. "I think we should do this outside, it's still early enough that neither Harry nor Ron will interfere," Remus said, reassuring her that no one would get hurt. She smiled, and walked to the two sitting on the corner watching her intently.

"We are going outside for some target practice, do you want to come?" Hermione was sweating profusely. Her hair was matted against her face, her tank top was becoming stained with her sweat, and every once in a while a sweat bead would travel from the top of her head down the side of her face to the column of her neck and disappear between the valley of her breast, damn lucky sweat drop. Draco was too distracted to answer and so Blaise did it for him.

"Sure, _bella_. We have nothing more interesting to do anyway, and you two do provide quite the entertainment," Blaise said standing up and handing her, her towel.

"Remus and I can help you train if you want? This house isn't going to be safe forever, and when we go to war someone will be needed to protect it," Hermione said casually as she dried her face. She was trying to goad them into picking her side, she knew they knew, but it was worth a shot.

"I believe Granger is trying to make us see the proverbial light." Draco sneered, standing up and taking a step towards Hermione.

"I'm just trying to get you two to realize that if you are being hunted by Voldemort, maybe you shouldn't support him," she replied sarcastically; she knew he would only understand her if she spoke his language.

"Touché, Hermione. However, you are forgetting one factor, we were also hunted by your precious Order," Blaise defended. "By their logic choosing no side is the equal of being their enemy. I believe that is something they share with the Dark Lord."

"True, but look at who you came to ask for help." Hermione gave them a sad smile and walked out the door, Remus had already left and she didn't want to make him wait anymore than he had to.

"She is trying to save us," Draco said softly. He knew what that meant. He knew that she only attempted to save those she deemed worthy of being saved, which meant she thought them worthy. "Maybe she has a soft spot for us." Blaise smiled, but it quickly faded.

"She is tiring herself out emotionally. Her smiles don't reach her eyes anymore, she has lost the spark we loved most about her." He had been noticing that lately and now upon closer inspection he confirmed it. "Maybe it's time we returned her spark," Blaise said mischievously.

"Maybe by "saving" us, we can save her and maybe after the saving is over and done we can get to the good part," Draco said, understanding his lover perfectly. They rushed down the stairs and into the yard just in time to watch Hermione pick up her bow.

"I want to check your speed and accuracy so shoot as many arrows as you can until I say stop," Remus said standing behind her. Hermione nodded and set up the shot. "Begin." Hermione shot her first arrow and missed the bull's-eye by about six inches, but she completely recovered and shot arrow after arrow straight at the bull's-eye until she ran out of arrows. Remus hadn't even had time to stay stop when Hermione was already lowering her bow. He analyzed the board and saw that every arrow had hit the mark, almost making it impossible to see the red dot. He then looked at the only shot she had missed. "Do you always miss the first one?" he asked thoughtfully.

"Yes, especially when tested in speed and accuracy." Hermione walked over to the board and removed every arrow until the board was bare. Draco and Blaise were utterly amazed; they had not expected her to be that good. She truly was the brightest, most capable witch since Rowena Ravenclaw; she was a force to be reckoned with.

"That won't be safe in the battle, what if the Death Eater has a hostage?" Remus shook his head, she was very good indeed, but that was an unacceptable flaw. "It seems that you over think your first shot." He walked over to her and placed his hands on her, lifting them up and setting them to shoot an arrow. He placed the arrow in and stood behind her, whispering softly. "Okay, this is short first shot, don't worry about it, just concentrate on the shot and forget everything else. Breathe in to shoot and out in between reloads." Hermione nodded and did as he asked, making every shot, but most importantly the first one.

"Thank you, Remus, I've tried almost everything to make that shot, I guess I did over think it," Hermione said, beaming at him.

"Well, you should go shower; the boys will be up soon, and I don't need to see anymore of your abilities. If you need help with anything just tell me and I'll help you tomorrow," Remus said, putting away the bows and arrows.

"Thanks, we will do this tomorrow." Hermione then ran inside leaving the three men outside.

"Where did she learn all this?" Blaise asked walking towards Remus.

"We left a month ago for the Dead Forest. There Hermione was recruited to train with the elves, apparently even they had heard of her, no doubt due to the House Elves. She quickly agreed, but didn't want Harry and Ron to know. She was afraid that they wouldn't let her do it; she didn't want them to worry about her instead to just focus on their training. Now she doesn't want to tell them in fear that they will resent her. She always takes the sharp edge of the axe." Remus sounded sad, mixed with anger and admiration.

He had shrunk the equipment and was taking it inside. He then stopped to look at them. His eyes locked with both Draco and Blaise; they could have sworn he was reading their souls. "You two would do well to allow her to help you. No matter how much you dislike her –" he snorted, "or love her, she is taking a big gamble on you and she knows it. It seems she has placed all her hopes in that you will accept her and her help. She doesn't want any more unnecessary deaths, I don't think she could handle some one so close to her dying when she could have helped them."

"Contrary to popular belief, Granger and I aren't best friends," Draco replied sarcastically.

"Maybe, but you are close to her. You have been a constant in her life for six years, and while you haven't been a pleasant constant she still, well, she still has a connection to you." Remus knew that the connection went deeper than they cared to admit to him. He had seen the way they looked at her, because he had caught himself looking at her a lot that way. He had always known that Draco's teasing went farther than he liked to admit. After all, how was a boy taught to hate everything Hermione stood expected to show his growing his affections for Hermione, the epitome of everything the chauvinistic Purebloods hated. Remus walked away and let them ponder over what to do; he had to go upstairs and prepare the room for Harry and Ron. "You and your _friend_ here should think her proposition over."

"I'm starting to get the feeling that the werewolf knows more about us than I like. I think he knows about us and our intentions," Draco said suspiciously.

"Well, he is a werewolf, its not like we could hide it from him. He is right, you know, she is gambling a lot especially since she isn't even aware of our love for her." Blaise looked at Draco's eyes and attempted to decipher the thoughts running trough his head.

"Then it might be a good time for us to tell her of our intentions." Draco said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Blaise knew Draco was protecting himself; he was always reluctant to admit that he loved her, he would call it anything but love. However, Blaise still knew it was love and deep down Draco knew it too. He was sure Draco would tell her as soon as he was faced with the prospect of losing her, just like he had told him when Blaise had first insinuated about the know-it-all witch. They had been in their room alone, on Blaise's bed, naked after coupling, when Blaise had said she had looked absolutely delectable that day.

About Two Months Ago…

Draco stiffened at Blaise's comment, turning on his side to stare at him incredulously. Blaise felt the bed shift and opened his eyes to look up at Draco, who was giving him a look which clearly said "You've go to be fucking with me."

"Am I to guess you don't share my sentiments?" Blaise asked, amused. Draco responded by growling and straddling him.

"Why are you thinking about her, Zabini? You want to fuck the Mudblood?" Draco asked between clenched teeth. He was holding Blaise down as he bit his neck and grasped him roughly.

"What if I told you I did? I've seen the way you look at her, the way you looked at her when she opened her robes during herbology. I know you want her as much as I do," Blaise said as he groaned at Draco's rough, but pleasant ministrations.

"You are mine, Zabini; never forget that." Draco looked at him, for the first time in their relationship locking eyes with him during sex. Blaise understood what was happening, but he wasn't going to make it easier on him, not while he was enjoying himself.

"I don't belong to anyone," he said defiantly, and Draco bit him hard on the shoulder for it. Without Blaise realizing it he had been tied to the bed and Draco was far from his reach. He looked down to see a determined and desperate gleam in his eyes before Draco entered him roughly. Blaise winced in pain: Draco hadn't used any lubrication, but Draco's release earlier and the fact that this definitely wasn't Blaise's first time helped him recover fast. Draco was being anything, but gentle in his desperate coupling.

"You belong to me, Blaise, you are mine," Draco said as he and Blaise neared their climax. Blaise wanted to tease him, but all he could do was moan in pleasure and Draco shagged him with abandon.

"I love you and you will not leave me, not for her." It was almost inaudible, but Blaise heard it clearly.

"I wasn't going to leave you. I just thought a new partner would be fun," Blaise said, breathing heavily. His hands had been freed and he brought them down to rub them. "I know you love her, you said it once." Draco looked at him quickly almost scared. "I was asleep when you started moaning, I thought you were trying to seduce me, when I opened my eyes and realized that you were asleep also. You started moaning a name too long to be mine so I got a little curious and leaned in. Imagine my surprise when the name you moan out with such rapture is none other than Hermione Granger's."

Draco looked troubled and lost. Blaise crawled over to him and wrapped his arms around his waist, kissing him on the lips hard, pulling Draco's lips closer by pulling him in by his hair.

"Granger won't agree to this and even if she did you know what I have to do. I can't risk anything stopping my mission, not even you." Draco stood up and headed towards the door of his bathroom. He needed to think, and he needed to think while relaxing in the tub.

"I love you too, but I think you are making a mistake. You should tell her, we should be together, even if its for a week," Blaise said to Draco's back. In a week Draco's mission would be completed, in a week Blaise could lose him, in a week they could all be dead. Draco didn't turn around, he just walked into the bathroom and locked the door.

Draco and Blaise walked inside and headed upstairs to talk to Hermione; maybe it was time they accepted her offer and made a few of their own. When they reached their room they came to the conclusion that she was currently taking a shower, so they sat on the edge of the bed and waited patiently for her to return.

"Do you realize we haven't bathed since yesterday?" Blaise said as he quickly got off the bed. Draco looked down at himself in disgust and stood up too; they hadn't even unpacked their clothes.

"Guess we will have to wait until we bathe. I really don't want to shag Granger while I smell like this. I'm just glad I spelled my mouth clean before we found her." Draco said as he took out a pair of boxers, some Muggle jeans, and a white t-shirt. They had only been allowed to shop in Muggle shops for fear of someone recognizing them in the Wizarding World.

"She wouldn't want to shag you either, now come on, lets find a bathroom before we run into Potter and Weasley." They went searching for a bathroom, opening every door in every room until they finally found one.

They divested themselves of their clothes rather quickly and stepped into the shower, turning on the water on hot. It wasn't burning hot, just hot enough to create mist and cause Draco's ivory skin to pink up. They lathered each other up in such an erotic way that they were hard as a rock by the time they had rinsed. Blaise pushed Draco against the tiled wall and kissed him hard; Draco ran his fingers through Blaise's hair and pulled him closer, rocking his hips against him. They eventually found their release with a growl and a shudder.

"That was a productive shower." Blaise said panting. They rinsed themselves off once again and got out to redress. A couple of minutes later and they emerged from the bathroom, clean and sexy. Blaise was wearing a pair of beige cargo pants and a white tee shirt; his hair was still wet, but it was sleeked back except for his fringe, which kept falling forward. Draco was wearing the tee shirt he had taken out and a pair of black jeans which outlined his body quite well. They walked to the room to find more clothes in the hamper bag.

"Damn, she already went downstairs!" Draco cursed as he flopped onto the bed. They heard footsteps outside of their room door and stood up immediately, raising their wands in defense. The doorknob turned and their hold on their wands became stronger, and then in walked Hermione Granger, in an apron. She looked at the two of them for a moment, her eyebrows furrowed in thought, and then she blushed a deep, scarlet red.

"Uhm, you shouldn't spend all your time up here, you know? You have free rein of the house as long as you don't interfere with anybody else," Hermione said, going to her drawer, not daring to look them in their eyes. She opened the first one up and pulled out a bag of chocolates. Draco and Blaise looked interested when she pulled that out: who knew that Granger had a wild side? Of course, jealousy quickly came along with that thought; if she had a wild side she had someone to get wild with, someone who wasn't them.

"Naughty, Granger. Why would you have chocolates in your dresser?" Blaise asked suggestively.

"Because if I don't hide them Remus will pig out on them. That man has an unnatural obsession with chocolate," Hermione said fondly. "If you need anything I'll be in the kitchen, Remus will be in the room we were in earlier and depending on how the boys are they will be there too." She gave them a shaky smile and left the room in a hurry.

"I think she knows," Draco said, falling back on his bed. "That blush was just to random for her not to have known," he said, trying to explain. Blaise gave him a look that clearly said he didn't understand. "The way she looked at us, she figured out that there is more to our relationship."

"Well, that certainly helps our plans; now we won't have the need to explain that little detail," Blaise said, getting into Draco's bed and lying on his side, one hand supporting his head. Draco nodded and looked pensive for a second. "What are you thinking?" Blaise asked curiously.

"I'm thinking I want some chocolate," he replied, getting up quickly. Blaise smirked and followed his lead down to the kitchen. However, they stopped at the stairs when they saw Hermione crying at the bottom. They stilled their steps and listened to the muffled noises on the other side of the wall.

When Hermione left the room

She was trying really hard to regain her composure after realizing that Draco and Blaise were more than good friends. How had she figured that out? By logic, of course, first of all there were only two showers in the whole house and she had been using one, which left one empty shower and two wet wizards. Which left one explanation: Blaise and Draco had showered together, because not enough time had passed for them to shower individually. Not only that, but Draco had a love bite on his neck; it wasn't very dark, but she was trained to notice the details. She was down the stairs when she heard her name coming form a very familiar voice.

"Have you seen Hermione?" Harry asked Ron as they sat on the library sofa.

"No, she is probably in the kitchen making something. I heard Remus say she was making dessert." Ron replied off-handedly.

"Oh. You know, I wonder what she did for that month we were away?" Harry asked, setting up the wizard's chess.

"She probably read all day, its not like she did a lot of cooking. I should tell mum to help her out in becoming a housewife," Ron said thoughtfully. Harry laughed.

"Why would you ask your mum to help Hermione become a housewife?"

"Because I think 'Mione needs the help. I mean, the first thing she does when we got to the camp was pester us about what we had done all day, then we find out that she is just starting to cook dinner and we have to help, and if things weren't bad enough she was the only bloody person we could talk to. Don't get me wrong, Hermione is my best friend, but bloody hell it's enough to drive a wizard insane." She knew Ron's face would be red by now, and he would be making exaggerated hand movements. She also knew that her heart was breaking; she had fallen for them, for both of them during that month they spent together. She had thought that maybe they liked her back, maybe they loved her like she thought she loved them, but she had been wrong, painfully wrong. She wanted to run away, but she stopped herself; she needed to her what was being said. She needed to disillusion herself, she needed to know the truth so she would never make a mistake so costly again.

"I guess you are right, but you sought her out all the time. I mean, if you just wanted to talk I was there and so was Remus."

"She was the only person close enough to a girl. I mean sometimes I just needed a different kind of company and she was the closest thing to it." She could picture Harry shrugging his shoulders.

"You do remember she is a girl, right?" Harry asked, some amusement coating his tone.

"Yeah, but she is a vanilla girl, you know?"

"No, I don't know." To tell the truth neither did Hermione.

"Lavender said that Hermione is vanilla, she is safe, constant, and reliable. She is the type of girl that an average guy can spend his average life with. She isn't filled with passion, or wildness, or even a drop of spontaneity. Its like when you go to buy ice cream and there are all these exotic flavors that you have never tried out and then there is vanilla. If you are adventurous you will choose the unknown one, but if you aren't you choose Hermione, you choose Vanilla."

"That is an awfully long metaphor to describe 'Mione, but I guess you are right. I can't imagine any bloke having wild fantasies of her, she just doesn't inspire that kind of thing. I'm kind of glad its not Ginny up there sleeping with those two, then we'd have a reason to worry. Bloody hell Ron, when did you start beating me?" With that the subject of Hermione was dropped.

Hermione stood up and dragged her feet to the kitchen, never once realizing that she had started to cry, never once realizing that two people had heard all that she had heard, never once realizing that she was going to be proved wrong.


	2. No Longer Vanilla

AN: If you want to read all the smut I deleted from the first and last chapter look for my story on its still called She Was Vanilla and it can be found in the threesomes and orgys section. The final chapter was posted on the 26th. I hope you all like the final chapter and review it. I appreciate all who placed me or my story on alert, thanks a bunches!!

Disclaimer: Because I would really be writing fanfic if I owned them...

Draco and Blaise had heard Lavender's theory on Hermione and had almost rushed down the stairs and beat her two friends senseless. They didn't even realize how wrong they were. How could they think such a beauty like Hermione was vanilla? She was anything but vanilla. Draco and Blaise were furious; how could they even suggest such a thing? Blaise and Draco were now more certain than ever that they were going to have to seduce her immediately and properly. They went downstairs, making as much noise as possible, and walked into the kitchen. Hermione was standing there in her light pink apron wearing a pair of jeans that fit comfortably and a t shirt about a size too big. The jeans didn't really flatter her figure and neither did the shirt, but she looked cute.

"Practicing to become my wife, Hermione?" Blaise asked, sitting on a chair close to her. She was grating the block of chocolate she had retrieved from her drawer. She turned around and blushed.

"I'm afraid not, I'm going to bake a cake," she replied, smiling at him sadly.

"What kind of cake?" Draco asked, sitting next to Blaise.

"A chocolate strawberry cake. It's Remus' and my favorite," she answered, not daring to look behind her; she was afraid they would know that she knew about them.

"Are you alright, _cara_? You seem to purposely avoid looking at us," Blaise asked innocently.

"I'm okay. I'm not avoiding you. I just want to make sure the cake turns out alright," she tried to explain without turning around.

"You know, Granger, a guy could get a complex. I mean I am confident enough in my good looks to know you aren't repulsed by me, but Blaise here, well he isn't as confident as I am," Draco whispered in her ear as he stood behind her one arm on either side of her body trapping her in between. Hermione shivered at the sensation and tried to stay in control of herself; after all, she was vanilla. She carefully turned around so as not to fluster him or her and looked into his eyes, searching. Once she found what she wanted she gasped.

"You know," was all she said as she placed a hand over her mouth. "I am so sorry; I didn't mean to find out. I won't tell anyone; after all, who you are with is nobody's business …" She was about to keep on rambling when Blaise began to laugh.

"Ai, bella. You are so cute when you are all flustered, relax, we aren't here to taunt you or threaten you. We actually came to accept your proposal." He walked towards her and took her arm leading her to the table to sit. She looked at them with a smile that radiated happiness.

"So you will train with us and help protect this house once we leave?" Hermione asked enthusiastically.

"As long as we get something out of it," Draco replied smirking. Hermione weighed her options, she couldn't give him much and what ever she did agree to she knew she had to make sure only she would be affected.

"Depends on what you want," Hermione answered, squaring her shoulders.

"What are you willing to offer?" Blaise asked, grabbing her hand and playing with her fingers.

"Anything **I** can offer," She answered, looking deep within his eyes. He could see her determination, her vulnerability, her strength, and it caused him to shudder.

"Well then I think we have a deal," Draco said, standing behind Blaise.

"Only when you come up with what you want from me, I won't agree to anything before that," Hermione said, smiling, she wasn't going to agree with anything these Slytherins were planning unprepared. Draco was about to say something when the door to the house crashed open. Hermione stood up and unsheathed her wand in a quick, fluid movement.

"'Mione, we are home!" a male voice called out. The Slytherins turned to see her reaction and saw her eyes widening in anticipation; she sheathed her wand and ran out of the kitchen laughing. They followed her just in time to see her jump into the arms of a short and stocky red head.

"Charlie!" she squealed excitedly.

"Hey love, how have you been?" he asked, spinning her around.

"Stop hogging her, Charles!" one of the twins said indignantly.

"She is not just yours, you know!" Ginny said, poking her brother in the ribs.

"That's right, she is ours," the other twin said, wrapping an arm around his other half. Charlie finally let her down and she hugged the others.

"I missed you all so much!" Hermione said as the twins wrapped their arms around her and kissed her cheeks. They finally managed to let go enough of her for Ginny to wrap her arms around her friend. "How have you been?" Hermione asked, worried.

"I've been fine; I told you I'm a big girl." Ginny stepped back from the hug and looked Hermione over. "I'm burning that outfit; as a matter of a fact, I'm burning all your clothes now," Ginny said while she began to untie Hermione's apron.

"Ginny, you are doing no such thing. What am I going to wear if you burn all my clothes?" Hermione asked, running away from Ginny and hiding behind Charlie.

"Nothing sounds good," Charlie said, laughing. Hermione slapped him playfully and laughed, but her blush was prominent.

"Don't worry, I have that part taken care of." With that Ginny emptied her pockets and the twins enlarged several bags of clothes. Hermione's eyes opened wide and she almost passed out.

"Where in the world did you get all that?" she asked, stepping away from Charlie.

"Well, love, George and I sold our latest product to this big company in exchange to becoming partners. There company was going bankrupt and we saved it so we now own half of it and we still own our own shop."

"With that money we received we decided to give you a small makeover. After all, the product came true because of you, or should it be in spite of you," George said, handing her a bag. Hermione smiled and hugged him tight. He picked her up and kissed the top of her forehead.

"Oy, tone it down." Ron said as he exited the library. "I could hear you all the way in the library, I almost lost to Harry."

"Don't you tell me to tone it down, Ronald Bilius Weasley!" Ginny said sounding an awful lot like her mum. George placed Hermione behind him and Draco and Blaise took that chance to enter the room fully; after all, the Weasleys had had enough time to greet her.

"Granger, you left something on in the kitchen, and unless you plan on setting this place on fire you better check it out," Draco said, walking up to her. Hermione panicked and ran into the kitchen; she was glad for an excuse to leave.

"Excuse us; we have some issues to work out," Charlie told the Slytherins as he ushered everyone into the library.

"You know, I think I might like the female Weasley, especially if she burns Hermione's clothes," Blaise said wistfully.

"The only thing I like about them is what they are about to do to Weasel," Draco said with a malicious smile.

"So did they leave yet?" Remus asked, walking down the stairs. The boys looked up, startled. Just how long had the damn werewolf been there? Draco thought before answering.

"Running away?" He knew he was baiting the older man, but he just didn't like him.

"Call it a graceful retreat," Remus answered, raising an eyebrow; he made his way to the kitchen ignoring the younger men. They followed close behind him just in time to see Hermione adding the chocolate flakes into a pot with boiling milk. "Are you making what I think you are making?"

"Depends, what do you think I'm making?" Hermione asked, smirking.

"You are making chocolate strawberry cake," he answered, walking towards a piece of chocolate. He took it and tried to take a bite, but Hermione knocked it out of his hand.

"Remus J Lupin, if you take one bite out of that chocolate I will stop baking!" she scolded as she threw the piece of chocolate away. Remus pouted like a child and backed away from the tempting chocolate to help her.

"What can I do?" He asked, eyeing all the ingredients laid out all ready measured.

"Nothing, you, my dear, are easily tempted," she said as she handed him some tea and scooted him to a chair.

"How about us?" Blaise asked, stepping forward.

"We aren't so easily tempted," Draco added as he stood behind Blaise. Hermione eyed them critically and nodded.

"Malfoy, you can watch the icing and make sure it doesn't burn. Blaise, you can help me make the cake mix." Draco didn't say anything, he just went straight to the stove and stirred the chocolate to make sure it mixed with the milk, adding a couple of more chocolate pieces to make sure the icing had the right consistency. Blaise and Hermione worked in perfect synchrony; Blaise would give her all the ingredients, making sure he got the right one and didn't get in her way. Soon they were done and the cake was in the oven. "All that is left to put away is the flour. Malfoy, can you pass me the flour?' Hermione asked, turning in time to watch Draco Malfoy throw her the open bag of flour. All of a sudden flour was flying everywhere, coating everything it touched, laughing at them as it landed on their heads and floor. The inhabitants of the room just froze and watched the whole event unravel, mildly amused.

"You threw it?" Remus asked laughing.

"I didn't know it was open." Draco defended, his face red, with a fine coat of white flour.

"I must say it looks good on you." Blaise said, laughing. He picked up some flour from the floor and threw it at Draco. Draco retaliated by throwing some on Blaise, but hit Hermione instead who turned to a laughing Remus and threw it at him.

"Not so funny anymore is it?" she said, laughing; soon a war had erupted where no one was sure on how to declare a winner. They were all on the floor panting when the Weasleys and Harry came in.

"It appears that while I was getting the scolding of my life because of you, you were having fun with the two people who started all this," Ron said furiously. Hermione stood up and started flexing her hands; her eyes were starting to water, but no one could tell if it was out of anger or hurt.

"Ron I think its time you shut up," Harry said, noticing Hermione's stance. She looked ready to strike or cry, and Harry did not want to get involved, but he didn't want Ron to get hurt either.

"No, this is all their faults." He pointed to Hermione, Draco, and Blaise. "If she had just let me in, and kept them out, if they had had the decency to die then I wouldn't have been in trouble." He knew he had stuck his foot in his mouth again when he felt the air get heavier. The air around them seemed to crackle and Hermione was biting her lip as tears flowed down her face.

"Ever think that the reason you got into so much trouble was because of your mouth? Goodness, Ron, I'm trying to keep unnecessary deaths from happening; I've been doing it since Sirius. Next time you open your mouth you should insert a shoe shop." Hermione was pissed off, how dare he say that about Draco and Blaise? Just because they weren't the purest people didn't mean that they deserved to die, no one except maybe Voldemort deserved to die. Why couldn't her friends see that they all needed to work together. She wiped away some tears, but they were quickly replaced by more.

"Hermione calm down, you know he is just angry. Don't cry because of them," Remus said, trying to be the voice of reason.

"Ron, just get out of here," Charlie said, not even bothering to glance at his brother.

"You know he doesn't mean it, remember he does have the emotional capacity of a teaspoon," Ginny said, trying to calm her best friend down. Ron looked like he was going to say something but the twins dragged him and Harry out of the room. "Come on, lets get you cleaned up." Ginny took a now sad Hermione upstairs and left the others to sort everything out.

"So how long have you two been in love with her?" Charlie asked bluntly. Blaise and Draco smirked.

"Longer than you, that's for certain," Blaise answered. Charlie shrugged and turned to Remus.

"I don't love her; I just think she is an attractive and intelligent woman. In any case that is beside the point, but just to spite you I will remind you that you certainly have not loved her longer than him or Fred," he replied.

"Bloody hell, next thing you are going to tell us that red up there has a big lesbian crush on Granger too." Remus and Charlie looked pensive for a second.

"That would explain her need to always help Hermione change, the fact that she talks about her nonstop, and all the presents she bought her," Remus answered thoughtfully.

"Bloody hell," George said as he walked in. "What is this? Is this a meeting of the we love Hermione club?"

"Why of course, dear brother, remember we meet every Saturday at six," Fred answered, taking a seat and staring at the others. George pulled out a seat next to him and smiled mischievously.

"So what made you two fall in love?" Blaise and Draco looked troubled. They were not expecting to be cornered to talk about their feelings; well, at least not by this bunch. Draco and Blaise looked at each other and tried to figure out what to do.

"Fourth year, during the Yule Ball. She looked so bloody fantastic that for a second Draco and I forgot that she was Granger, know it all Gryffindor." Blaise answered. The twins looked pensive for a while before speaking.

"Ravishing."

"I don't know what she looked like then, but if she looked anything like she did when she accompanied me to the Dragon Ball then I completely understand," Charlie said, thinking back to that night.

"This makes me wonder how many other poor blokes are also in love with her," Remus said, leaning in to talk. "I mean, how many guys in Hogwarts have been lusting after 'Mione, without her knowledge?"

"According to Ginny, a lot," Charlie replied. "She said some of them even asked her out, but Hermione was too oblivious to notice," he added, laughing.

"She has only ever had eyes for Harry and Ronnikins," Fred said, partially in disgust.

"Maybe now she will realize that those two don't deserve her nearly as much as they think they do," George said hopefully; he hated to see his twin so sad. Plus, Hermione wasn't nearly as bad once she was out of school.

"I think that can be arranged," Draco said conspiratorially. The group was about to say something when Ginny came rushing down the stairs.

"Ginny, give me back my clothes!" they heard Hermione scream as Ginny laughed maniacally.

"I told you I would burn them!" she yelled as she ran out the door into the garden and past the men. They followed her out to see her throw the clothes in a big pile and throw a Muggle match at it. In a matter of seconds the piles of clothes were up in flames. Ginny turned to the group, an evil glint in her eye, and all of them backed away in fear. "Now she has to wear what I got her." They all nodded and Ginny came back inside calmly, as if she hadn't just stolen someone's clothes and set them on fire. Hermione was still upstairs yelling and cursing Ginny to the seventh circle of hell until Ginny slammed the door closed.

"That girl is insane; she just set all that on fire and walked away. She **walked **away," Draco said, eyes wide. The Weasleys and Remus just nodded until Harry walked in.

"Why is there a fire in the middle of the lawn?" he asked, a little panicked.

"Ginny," Fred answered.

"She finally got her wish," George added. Harry thought for a second and then laughed in realization.

"She actually set her clothes on fire. What's Hermione going to wear now?" Harry asked pushing past everyone and towards the pile of burning clothes.

"What the twins and Ginny got her," Charlie answered turning back around and going inside after Harry put the flames out.

"I have a feeling all Fred and George provided was the money," Remus said intuitively. The twins gave a solemn head shake and sighed. The men heard a door open upstairs and Hermione's indignant yells.

"There is no way I'm wearing this. Ginny, put the wand down. Ginny, I swear if you make me go downstairs with this on I'm never talking to you again."

"That's a chance I'm willing to take."

"Gin, please! Don't make me do this, this is so embarrassing. Who in their right mind would buy me this? Are you sure this isn't your shopping bag? Seriously, Ginny let me stay here, no one will miss me."

"Hermione Jane Granger, if you do not walk down those stairs I'm telling everyone to come up and we can just hang in your room until tomorrow, where you will have to model every piece of clothing." The next thing they heard were steps coming down the stairs. Everyone tried not to rush to the door to see her, but it was just too hard. In the end everyone had rushed towards the staircase to see Hermione Granger come down.

Hermione had her eyes closed; she did not want to see the faces of the ones she knew were looking. She could feel their stares and that was more than embarrassing enough; she did not want to see their mocking faces as she, Hermione Jane Granger a.k.a. Vanilla, walked down the stairs. She felt two hands grab hold of hers and for a second hoped it was Harry and Ron, but these hands were a different kind of strong and rough. She squeezed them tight and slowly opened her eyes to see everyone staring at her with opened mouths. She looked at her sides to see two smirking Slytherins; she blushed a bright crimson and looked at Ginny for help.

"I told you, you looked drop dead gorgeous," Ginny said smugly. Hermione rolled her eyes in response.

"You, however, forgot to mention why I had to wear this," she said, impatiently squeezing Draco and Blaise's hands.

"It's for the party, of course," Fred said gaily.

"What party?" Harry asked, confused.

"The Holy Hell Hermione Looks Delectable Party," George answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"George, stop using foul language and I do not look delectable," Hermione said, agitated.

"From where I'm standing you look ravishing, my dear." Charlie said, winking at her. Harry looked lost and confused. He wasn't sure if they were flirting with her or being nice. He also wasn't sure when Hermione had got that great figure; the dress reminded him of Muggle fairies. It was a forest green corset top with cream and black strips of fabric that made the skirt of the dress hang down from the corset. The top of the dress had vine stitching decorations which all joined at her shoulders to create a flimsy strap around her shoulders. Her hair hung in curls loosely around her; her eyes were covered with light green eye shadow. Her feet were covered by cream platform sandals with a small broach to hold the straps together. She looked absolutely magnificent; since when did she look this stunning? Hermione finished walking down the stairs with both Draco and Blaise, blushing the whole while and it wasn't till she landed that she let go of them and made her retreat to the kitchen. They were all too stunned to move.

"I know, I'm a genius," Ginny said, smirking. "Now, I suggest you all get ready for the party too." Quickly everyone ran out in different directions, whether it was to get dressed or put up decorations. Blaise and Draco just walked into the safety of the kitchen.

"She is off her rocker, and now I can't even get the damned dress off. I can learn how to save the Wizarding World in a month, but ask me to take my dress off and I'm hopeless." Hermione had an apron tied around the dress and was checking the cake. She really loved magic; it let her make the cake in half the time and without incident. If it weren't for magic she would be a terrible cook.

"You do realize that talking to one's self is the first sign of insanity, Granger?" Draco asked as he admired her from behind. She turned red and covered her mouth; Draco Malfoy had just heard her curse, things were not going as planned.

"Yes well, right now it's the only thing keeping me sane," she answered as she took out the cake from the magically enhanced oven. She placed it on a rotating plate and retrieved the pot with the icing.

"Need some help, _bella_?" Blaise asked stepping forward and looking for a knife.

"No, I'm okay. Are you two going to join in on the festivities?" she asked, looking at them inquisitively.

"You mean the Holy Hell Granger Looks Delectable Party?" Draco asked, trying to sneak a taste of the icing. Hermione turned red once again and blocked Draco's attempt to get some chocolate.

"No, the Welcome Home party, the other party is just Fred being sweet." Blaise raised an eyebrow and Hermione smiled fondly. "He is just trying to make me feel better about what happened yesterday with Ron." Blaise seemed to disagree, but Hermione didn't really pay him any mind. She kept on covering the cake with the icing until it was completely covered and looked absolutely delicious.

"Partying with Gryffindors is not how I like to spend my time, Granger." Draco replied after failing to get a taste. Hermione shrugged and went to the fridge to retrieve some strawberries.

"Don't you dare, Draco Malfoy," Hermione said without turning around and Blaise snickered.

"Bloody hell," Draco said as he backed away from the cake.

"If you want to spend the night upstairs its fine with me, just eat with us and then run like the wind. However, there are a couple of things you will have to do before you make your escape. First, you might want to use a silencing charm around the walls, we get pretty rowdy. Second, if any of the Weasleys go upstairs and offer you something called Gryffindor Courage, don't drink it unless you can handle yourself. Third, depending on what everyone has to do tomorrow I will be in pretty late so please don't lock me out." Hermione placed the last of the strawberries on the cake and stood back proudly. She looked at the intrigued Slytherins and mentally smirked, so her plan had worked after all.

"This sounds like a celebration worth going to." Blaise said as he stood up and walked to the door. "Coming, Draco?" Draco looked at Hermione once over and then went out the door. Charlie took that moment to walk in, decked out in Muggle clothing.

"Hey, Hermione, mum told me to tell you that she will be making dinner for us so you don't have to." Charlie was wearing a maroon colored dress shirt and black trousers. His hair was tousled and he looked very sexy. Hermione nodded. "After all, we don't want to get food poisoning."

"I resent that. It's not my fault I never learned to cook. I any case I prefer baking," Hermione said smiling. "Tell her not to worry about desert since I already finished it," she added as she stepped away from the fireplace.

"Will do," Charlie replied as they walked out of the kitchen to see what madness had ensued in the den. She, however, was blocked from the den by Charlie no matter how many times she tried to get in; she would have used magic, but the Muggle way seemed more fun. After about twenty minutes of unsuccessful tries she went in search of the rest of the inhabitants. Ginny was upstairs in the bathroom getting dressed, and Harry had excused himself from the festivities since Ron didn't want to see any of them. Hermione had promised to save him some cake. She then went up to her shared room were Draco and Blaise were lounging around. They stood up as soon as she entered and she waved her hand dismissively. She looked them over and tsked at Draco's shirt. He was wearing a smoky gray dress shirt and black trousers. The flaw in his get up was the fact that he had buttoned his shirt one button off. She walked over to him, thinking of him like Harry and Ron, and began to unbutton his shirt. It wasn't till an ivory hand stopped her that she realized what she had been doing.

"I never figured you for the type of girl to make the first step." Draco said, lowering his head towards her.

"I was just fixing your shirt, you buttoned it wrong," Hermione answered with baited breath; she wasn't sure what was going on, but it was making her tremble.

"It seems to me, _cara,_ that you know exactly how to unbutton it the right way," Blaise said closing in from behind her. She turned around swiftly when she felt his warmth and looked him over. He was wearing an indigo shirt and cream colored slacks; his, unlike Draco's, were perfectly buttoned. She was trapped in between two Slytherins, who had nothing good crossing their minds, worst of all was the fact that she liked it. Suddenly a knock at the door shook them out of their trance-like moment. Hermione recovered quickly and walked towards the door; she looked at them once again and saw that Draco's shirt had been fixed; she opened the door and saw an unlikely face.

"Bill!" she exclaimed as she jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his waist and squeezing him tight. "How are you? How is Fleur? Is she here with you?" Hermione was so excited to seem him and find out how he was that he didn't give him a chance to answer.

"Do you have time to talk?" Bill asked seriously. He looked into the room and his eyes darkened as he saw the two Slytherins. Hermione nodded and smiled at him encouragingly, then she noticed the position she was in. She turned a dark crimson and was about to get down when Bill rearranged her so that she was cradled close to his chest. "You look like a princess so you should be treated as one," was his answer to her inquisitive stare. He carried her down the stairs and out to the patio, where he sat on a bench with her still in his arms.

"Why do you look so sad?" Hermione asked as she rubbed his cheek; he winced and tried to turn away, but she stopped him. His face still held the marks of his attack; while they weren't that angry red anymore they were still clearly visible. "Did you wince because I hurt you or because you are afraid?" He looked at her thoughtfully and hugged her tight.

"Fleur is afraid of me, she can never keep her eyes on me for too long. When we make love she keeps her eyes closed and afterwards she turns away from me. I don't think she loves me, I think she just wanted to prove she wasn't as superficial as everyone thought her to be." He didn't want to look at Hermione's face; he was sure he wouldn't be able to handle it.

"Maybe she isn't afraid of you; maybe she is afraid of herself. Maybe she doesn't want to hurt you anymore than you are. I've seen her with you, her eyes shine with love. I've watched her when she thought you two were alone, like the time you fell asleep on the settee. She walked over to you and ran her fingers over every single one of your scars, she kissed every single one, and she cried as she whispered she loved you. It was so sweet it broke my heart, Bill, don't let Fleur go because she doesn't know what to do. She loves you, I know she does, and I think deep down you know too." Bill did know, as a matter of a fact he knew too well. He was just afraid she wouldn't be able to accept him with the open arms Hermione had, he was afraid he would hurt her.

"You really are the brightest witch of your age, on some subjects." He winked at her and jumped up.

"Come on, I want you to take something to Fleur so you two can make up." She grabbed his hand and ran to the kitchen. When she arrived she was met with a table filled with food; she looked back at Bill and he smiled.

"I was the messenger." Hermione smiled and walked over to the refrigerator and retrieved a glass bowl filled with both white and brown chocolate. The white chocolate had the shape of flowers, the dark chocolate was the shape of half moons, and the milk chocolate was the shape of hearts.

"The white chocolate is infused with vanilla, the milk chocolate with strawberries, and the dark chocolate with raspberries. Go home, bring a bottle of her favorite wine, and talk it out, use the chocolate as a peace offering." She gave him a kiss and pushed him to the fireplace.

"Thank you," Bill said as he grabbed a handful of powder and left. She locked the floo network and turned to see Blaise and Draco leaning on the door frame.

"Dinner is ready," she said as she began to take plates to the dinning room. Draco and Blaise helped her move the food to the dinning room and set up; well, Blaise helped while Draco supervised. Hermione stepped out of the dinning room and once again said, "dinner is ready." Everyone flooded the dinning room and began to ask Hermione to sit next to them. Hermione looked flustered not wanting to make anyone feel bad and was about to just sit on the end when Draco grabbed her and sat her on a chair, Blaise sitting on her other side. Everyone smirked at them and Blaise and Draco had the feeling that they had just been conned into sitting with Hermione; seriously, these Gryffindors were very Slytherin. Dinner was rather uneventful until desert came and Hermione revealed her delicious cake.

"You know, 'Mione, you should open a bakery," Charlie said as he waited for his piece of cake.

"I was thinking about opening one after we defeat Voldemort," Hermione said casually.

"How can you be so certain you will defeat the Dark Lord?" Draco asked, sneering. Hermione gave him a wicked smile and served him some cake.

"I guess I haven't told any of you about my plan." Everyone turned to look at her better and she blushed, she really did not like being the center of attention. "Well while we were away I began to train with the Dead Forest elves, Harry and Ron still don't know about it."

"What did they think you were doing?" Fred interrupted. Hermione shrugged, she really couldn't tell.

"They probably thought she was playing Suzy Homemaker," George answered, snorting.

"I really would appreciate it if no one told them yet; they are already upset with me enough." Everyone nodded and she kept on talking. "When I was training I came upon an ancient spell hidden by the elves in order to protect the wizards. This spell prevented the magic of Wizards from working whether it was on an isolated level or for every wizard. Aeryn and Kayrin, the elves who taught me, told me that when the race of wizards were young a powerful witch gave them a spell to stop the Wizarding community from destroying itself in the future. They said that they have been looking for the right witch to help them cast the spell since they heard of Voldemort. If this spell succeeds, I, along with the help of the elves, can create a barrier, an undetectable barrier, around an area which would cause all the wizards and witches to fight as nothing but Muggles. It's part of the reason why Harry and Ron have been learning sword fighting and self-defense."

"How are you going to pull this off?" Ginny asked. By then, everyone had a piece of cake in front of them, but no one was eating.

"Well we always wait for him to make the first move, but I figured now would be the perfect time to go on the offensive. The elves said that their forest would be the perfect battle ground since we knew it so well and the magical properties would help the elves and I in the spell we have to perform. Once we cast the spell everyone within five miles of the forest will be affected, but the Death Eaters won't know since you will be able to Apparate in but not out. Once inside they will be stuck. The best part of this plan is that there is no way for Voldemort to escape, you see, the spell will prevent all magic from working. He will be trapped there until we can find the Horcruxes and destroy them."

"So you aren't planning on killing him?" Remus asked, intrigued.

"We can't kill him without destroying the Horcruxes and we can't waste time and go in search for them. The only way is for the elves to keep him trapped there and while Harry, Ron, and I go in search of his Horcruxes."

"What are these Horcruxes you keep mentioning, Granger?" Draco asked confused.

"Something that ties the Dark Lord here, Harry and the rest were instructed to destroy them. Although I don't think Dumbledore would be so happy with the fact that you mention it so freely." Remus gave Hermione a reproaching look and she looked down in shame.

"I know, but now we have ears out there in case someone hears something. I don't regret forcing Harry to tell you." Hermione spoke with confidence, but the way her head didn't rise spoke volumes of the shame she felt.

"That's all right Hermione, we still love you with a passion rivaling that of …" Fred trailed off as he grabbed Hermione's hand and kneeled on the floor.

"Something really passionate!" George exclaimed, laughing.

"You can't even be serious now, can you?" Hermione knew they were just playing with her, trying to make her feel better, trying to comfort her because of Ron's idiotic behavior. She looked at all of them and smiled lovingly, and at that moment she knew that no one would love her more than they did. No one would ever be _in_ love with her because she was vanilla, but she was happy to be loved at all. "Is the cake that bad that no one is eating it?"

"Actually we kind of forgot about it," Remus said, smiling sheepishly. He took a bite out of the cake and moaned. "Merlin, Hermione, this cake is, well it's a sin," Remus said as he took another bite and savored the taste.

"Is that strawberry I taste in the icing?" Ginny asked as she took another bite. "This is orgasmic, Hermione," she said, closing her eyes. Hermione's cheeks turned scarlet.

"I'm glad you all like it," Hermione said, taking a bite of her strawberry.

"She is right, Granger, this is almost as good as an orgasm. Almost," Draco drawled as he licked the icing off a strawberry. Hermione blushed a deeper shade of red and refused to meet his eye.

After the cake was finished they moved to the room the twins and Ginny had decorated. When Hermione walked in, the first thing she noticed was the giant flashing banner that said "Holy Hell Hermione Looks Delectable Party"

"I reckon we are going to have to upgrade that banner, George."

"I reckon you are right, Fred." They both smiled mischievously and pointed their wands at the banner. The new banner read: "Holy Hell Hermione Looks Delectable and Makes Orgasmic Cake While Still Being Brilliant Party" To say the banner covered practically the whole room was an understatement.

"Way too wordy, guys, but the point gets across," Charlie said, turning on a radio. A sort of tango song came on and Remus looked over at Hermione.

"Care to dance?" Remus said, stretching out his hand. Hermione looked him over as if sizing him up and nodded, and everyone else cleared the way. Remus was wearing beige pants and a chocolate shirt; he looked very handsome.

"This is going to be good," Ginny said to Draco and Blaise, who looked on, intrigued. Hermione and Remus moved like water together, bending and spinning as one, never missing a step or knocking into each other. The song picked up and Hermione locked her leg with Remus as he dragged her back a few steps, then she slid to the floor as Remus walked away. She stood lifting her arms up swaying with the music, moving her hand down one arm and across her chest and down her body, the other soon following it as if seducing Remus back to her. Remus walked over to her as she lifted both arms again and entwined his arms with her as he brushed her cheek. He dipped her back and she swung in his arms as the song ended. Watching Remus and Hermione dance had caused Draco and Blaise to get unwanted erections; they did not need the extra attention to themselves, so they just hung back. Yet, watching Hermione move so provocatively had set them on fire and she would be the only one to put that fire out. Everyone clapped as Remus and Hermione untangled themselves.

"I don't think I've had a dance that good since Bill's wedding," Remus said kissing Hermione's hand.

"You are exaggerating; I'm not that good of a dancer. All I do is let you lead, which is the whole point of dancing," Hermione said, blushing at the praise.

"I still say you are a smashing dancer," Fred said, winking.

"She is, she is just being modest. I mean, she just raised the temperature of this room by a thousand degrees. How long have you and Remus been practicing?" Ginny said, waggling her eyebrows suggestively. Hermione ignored her friend and went to a table to get a drink. There were four bottles there: a pink one named Hufflepuff's Friendship, a blue one named Ravenclaw Wisdom, a green one called Slytherin Cunning, and the last one was red and it was called Gryffindor Courage. She took the pink bottle and poured herself a drink.

"Well, after the wedding, Hermione and I danced together to let out some tension. I mean, at first she was clumsy and kept looking at her feet. She over thought the moves and tensed whenever I put my hands around her, but she finally got the gist of it after a while," Remus said with a fond smile.

The rest of the party was spent dancing and just having a good time until the clock struck twelve.

"We better go; it's going to be a long day tomorrow," George said as he began to button up his black shirt and handed Fred his red one. Ginny was fixing her shimmering, gold v-neck dress when Hermione took pity on her and helped her out.

"How do I remove this dress?" Hermione asked as she made sure everyone made it through the floo in one piece and to the right place. Ginny looked around conspiratorially. Remus and gone to bed already and the only ones left were Blaise and Draco. She winked at the two and leaned in.

"A male has to take it off." With that Ginny flooed out of the house. She looked behind her as she left to see the only two conscious males in the house leaning against the door frames. Hermione turned bright red and turned around to seal the network.

"Did I hear the Weaslette right?" Draco asked, interested. Hermione nodded; she didn't trust herself to answer. "Interesting, I guess we could help you with that little problem," Draco said salaciously. Hermione didn't say anything; her throat was suddenly very dry. She walked past them and up the stairs.

"She has some very Slytherin friends." Blaise commented as they walked up the stairs. They stopped in front of the door and Blaise spoke again. "This is our perfect chance to make her ours, we can not mess this up," he whispered to Draco as he pulled him in for a quick kiss before opening the door. The lights were dimmed and they could see an outline of Hermione sitting on her bed taking off her shoes. Blaise climbed on the bed behind her, and Draco sat next to her and grabbed her hand as she took off her last shoe.

"We know what we want in exchange for helping you." Draco whispered in her ear.

"What would that be?" Hermione asked, her voice wavering as Blaise placed his hands on her zip.

"We want you," was Draco's reply as he nibbled on her earlobe. Hermione gasped as she felt the cool air hit her back; Blaise was undoing her dress. She shuddered as Blaise began to place kisses on her back and Draco began kissing her neck. She was shaken out of her stupor when she felt Blaise lowering the straps of her dress. She stood up and turned to look at the two men on her bed.

"What are you playing at?" Hermione asked as she pulled the straps of her dress up. She needed to know if this is what they wanted in return for helping her: did they want just one shag or regular shags? She wasn't sure if she could handle being used more than once just for their pleasure. If they wanted a toy then maybe they shouldn't be the ones to protect Grimmauld Place. Draco stood up and walked towards her slowly as if testing his prey; Blaise was right behind him, watching her in case she tried to run.

"We aren't playing, _bella_, we want you to be ours." Blaise placed an arm on her shoulder and walked behind her.

"Are you that dense that you can't see what you do to us?" Draco asked as he rocked his hips against her, pushing her back onto Blaise's erection. She gave a small gasp and blushed; surely she wasn't the one causing that reaction? She shook her head in denial and tried to escape, but she was pinned against two very muscled Slytherins. If she remained calm she could make them understand that she was vanilla and that they were lonely; for the love of Merlin, they were gay!

"You two are just bored and lonely. If it was any other girl you would have done the same. I'm sure once you think about this rationally you will see that I'm vanilla and clearly not to your liking," Hermione said logically. While it was nice to dream and fantasize about the two men she was entangled with, she wasn't going to fool herself. Draco grabbed her waist and pulled her to him roughly. He kept on arm around her slender waist and used the other had to lift her face up to look at him. However, Blaise was the one that spoke, very close to her ear, sending goose bumps over her skin.

"You are very wrong to think that you are anything as ordinary as vanilla. Hermione, if you should be compared to any flavor it would be the spicy, sweet taste of cinnamon, or the versatile taste of that chocolate you love so much. The rich, addictive taste, the way it can mix and change to please anyone, the way just one bite isn't enough, that's how you are. You are wild, calm, intelligent, sexy, shy, seductive, and soon to be ours. Hermione, if you don't believe my words then look into Draco's eyes and see his need and love for you."

She didn't plan on looking; she was wary of what she would find in his eyes, but at that moment Blaise had pushed his hips forward, forcing her eyes open in surprise, and Draco had taken that moment to lock his eyes with hers. She looked into his eyes and saw a cyclone of emotions, emotions she was cautious of deciphering, but she couldn't look away. She saw need, desperation, fear, lust, and other equally strong emotions, but the one that stood out the most was the one she refused to recognize. The feeling that held her eyes to his was the same one she had expected from Ron and Harry, but it felt so strange to think about them now, it felt wrong, it felt like betrayal. She shivered; she knew that her attempts at falling for Ron and Harry had been misguided. She couldn't get the thought of Draco and Blaise out of her head and now that they were there it was harder to do.

What if she gave them what they wanted and they threw her away afterwards; what if that emotion wasn't what she thought it was? She panicked, and her logical brain told her to run, but her traitorous body wouldn't let her. Draco could see the fear and doubt in her eyes, so he did the only thing he could. He leaned forwards and captured her lips in a heated kiss, begging for entrance with every stroke of his tongue, commanding compliance with ever nibble of her lower lip, showing his love with every caress of his hand.

"Don't think, Hermione, just feel." He kissed her again and this time she let herself be properly kissed. He relished in the feel of her, relished the heat of her mouth, relished being this close to her; he did not, however, relish the fact that she pushed him away.

"I can't do this. I can't be with you knowing you don't love me, I can't betray myself." Hermione had raised a hand to her lips and was touching them as she spoke, as if protecting herself from him. She finally managed to escape their grasps and walk to the door, but she couldn't for the life of her open it. She turned to face them, but that had been a mistake because at that moment Draco pushed her up against the door, all tenderness gone, and kissed her.

"Damnit, Granger, why can't you just stop and feel. I know you want us; I can see it in your eyes, just like you can see that I want you. Hermione, I love you, we both do and with time you can love us too. I know you can; we can make you feel better than you have ever felt, we will show you such pleasure you will forget that you don't love us." His voice was raw and she seriously doubted if she would hear such a tone from him again. While his words could lie, his tone couldn't; he was telling the truth. He kissed her again with sheer desperation, so different from his first, tender kiss and his second, dominant kiss. She finally let herself go; if he could show the vulnerability needed to confess what he felt, she could give him the acceptance she had never been given. She would be theirs and if that feeling in the pit of her stomach she usually got when around them was gone then she would never do it again, but if it remained she would be theirs until they no longer wanted her.

Draco wanted to explode at the happiness he felt when he felt Hermione give in to the kiss. Blaise somehow managed to push them towards the middle of the room, and stood behind Hermione, undoing the dress carefully and kissing every inch of skin that appeared. Hermione shivered as he kissed the small gap on her back and pulled away from Draco to look around. As she stepped back, the dress fell to the floor and she was left wearing a strapless bra and her lacy underwear. She began to fidget, trying to make herself invisible, when two fingers lifted her chin up towards his face. Blaise kissed her on the lips, softly and fleetingly as he grabbed her hands and placed them on his chest. He trailed kisses down her neck, across her shoulders, and back again towards her mouth, distracting her as Draco removed her bra. Blaise kissed her once again, pulling her towards him, crushing her against him. Meanwhile, Draco had rearranged the bedroom to place the beds together. Blaise broke the kiss, smiling at her while he stepped back to let Draco take over. Draco had divested himself of everything but his pants and relished the feel of Hermione's soft, but firm, body against his hard one.

Blaise was once again behind Hermione, whispering words in her ear that only the two of them could hear. He grabbed her hands, running them along Draco's chest, covering every inch of Draco's chest and abdomen and then wrapping them around Draco so she could run her hands along his back. He let go when he felt her hands begin to move on their own. He kissed her neck and stepped back to divest himself of his clothes. Draco wrapped his arms around Hermione and tilted her head back to reach a sensitive spot on her neck. She moaned in pleasure and Draco smirked in satisfaction. The seduction was going fairly well; they just had to take it up a notch. He loosened his hold on Hermione and moved behind her, kissing her neck all the while. Blaise stepped in front of Hermione and smiled reassuringly. He kissed her deeply, nibbling on her lip until she opened her mouth, and attempted to run her tongue over her abused lips. Blaise took advantage and plundered her mouth with his tongue, exploring every tooth and crevice. He pulled back and grinned with pure male satisfaction when he heard her panting. He began to kiss her neck, playing close attention to that point behind her ear; he kissed down her neck until he reached her collarbone. He stopped, and Hermione looked down as she noticed the lack of touch. Blaise was looking up at her with such passion that Hermione found herself nodding to whatever it was he was asking. She was giving in to them completely.

The next day Blaise was the first to wake up. He looked down at the arms confining him to the bed and followed them to Hermione, who was still blissfully asleep. He gave her sleeping form a small smile and briefly pondered on the fact that Hermione Granger liked to cuddle and be cuddled, that is if Draco's arms wrapped tightly around her were any sign. He turned slightly to look at Hermione's blissful smile and then at Draco's relaxed face. He was sure that they had proved their love yesterday, and if the hadn't, well, at least they were a few steps closer. He ran his hands up Hermione's arms and cupped her face, rubbing her cheek in a circular motion with his thumb. He saw her eyes flutter between sleep and arousal; he had hoped she would stay asleep, but his hopes were crushed when she opened her eyes. She could see someone lying down in front of her, but she wasn't sure who it was. She was tired and sore, so she rubbed her eyes sleepily and concentrated in front of her until she saw Blaise. She tensed and sensed the body behind her tense; all the delicious things that had happened the night before came flooding back, and she relaxed into the arms that had been holding her.

"I thought you were going to make a run for it, Granger," Draco said as he pulled her naked body closer to his. Hermione blushed and Blaise noticed that it reached all the way down past her chest.

"Yes, well, I would have, but I don't think running out of the room naked is exactly the sane thing to do right now," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"Just what I need, a dose of sarcasm in the morning; most girlfriends would just kiss their boyfriends and say 'good morning dear,'" Draco replied sarcastically as he propped himself up with one arm.

"Most boyfriends wouldn't complain about their girlfriends if they wanted to keep her happy, and trust me you want me happy," Hermione retorted, turning to look at him better; it was at the precise moment when they made eye contact that they realized what they had said. Hermione blushed even more intensely then when she had first realized she was naked; Blaise was convinced that the blush had reached all the way down to her toes. Draco, on the other hand, had a smug, possessive look on his face.

"I think our little witch is falling for us, Draco," Blaise said, amused. Draco didn't stir, he just looked at her. Hermione couldn't handle the intensity of his stare and turned to look at Blaise, but that had been a mistake seeing as Blaise wore a look of intense smugness and a little of something else. She took a breath and closed her eyes; she needed to think, and she did not need to look at them.

She analyzed her feelings, carefully cataloging them as she recognized them. She was feeling extremely embarrassed, but that was to be expected seeing as she was naked in bed with two very male bodies after doing all that they had done last night. She was also in pain, which was also normal after her first time; she was feeling sated and she expected that every time she did the deed she would feel like that. But what troubled her most was that feeling she had felt at the base of her stomach every time she was around Blaise and Draco. The feeling hadn't vanished as she'd thought, it had actually grown into a weight that was pressing down on her heavily, but that wasn't the worst part. The weight seemed to have duplicated and was now in her heart. She opened her eyes and the heaviness that was suffocating her vanished as soon as she saw them. She knew she was screwed at that specific moment; she chuckled to herself at the bad pun and made to sit up. She needed to get away from them if she wanted to talk logically. When she sat up she remembered the state of her nakedness, and regretted it, and with a groan laid back down and covered herself back up. Blaise and Draco looked at each other, amused.

"You all right, Granger?" Draco asked, smirking; she had been making interesting noises, weird movements, and downright hilarious facial expressions. Blaise looked at her, a little worried; he wasn't sure of what was wrong, but he hoped that it was nothing too serious. She made some noise and Blaise was sure it had been an answer to Draco's question.

"What was that, love?" Blaise asked as he moved the blanket down.

"I said you could at least call me Hermione, Draco," she repeated, red.

"So does that mean you are our girlfriend?" Blaise asked, feeling a bit foolish. It really was a juvenile question to ask after they had done such an adult thing, but he really wasn't worrying about his question, just her answer.

"Well that all depends, doesn't it?" Hermione replied as she sat up and leaned against the backboard of the bed. The boys looked at her intently, waiting for her demands.

"Depends on what, Gr-Hermione?" Draco asked as she glared at the almost-use of her surname.

"Depends how long you two live after Ron and Harry know about us?" Hermione said seriously. Draco and Blaise looked at each other in confusion and she laughed. "I'll tell you what, if you survive more than two minutes with the two of them after they find out, then I'll become what you want me to become," she said, smirking.

"Your Slytherin is showing," Draco replied, glaring at her.

"Yes, well something else of yours is showing." Hermione retorted as Draco looked down at himself. She laughed and said, "Made you look."

"Out of all the witches in Hogwarts we fell in love with the looniest one of all," Blaise said affectionately. Hermione smiled at him and her eyes glinted.

"Yes, well I got stuck with you two so I think you are better off." She got up and took the blanket with her, wrapping it around herself and heading to the bathroom. She needed to pee and to think badly. She knew she wanted them, but she needed to take things slower than they had been going. Unfortunately, she hadn't realized how late she had woken up and she hadn't noticed the two pairs of eyes that had watched her leave her room scantly covered by a bed sheet.

"Bloody hell, was that…?" He couldn't finish his question before his partner answered.

"I think so."

"Was she wearing…?"

"She wasn't wearing anything."

"Are you…?

"One hundred percent sure." The companion answered before they made their way slowly to the room. They had just reached the stairs when they heard the bathroom door open; they quickly ducked into a room and waited for the sound of a door closing.

"Why are we hiding from her if we want to know what's going on?" Ron asked Harry as they began to slowly walk up the stairs.

"Force of habit," Harry answered with a shrug. They were in front of the door and trying very hard to hear what has happening on the other side, but nothing could be heard. "She must have cast a powerful spell on it. We should just wait here and wait for her to come out," Harry said warningly to Ron.

"I know. We don't want a repeat of last time," Ron said grudgingly. They sat in front of the room and silently waited for Hermione to come out.

Inside the room Hermione was met by two half-dressed wizards. The beds that they had transfigured together the night before were still one, but it had been made and the clothes had been picked up, folded and set on top of it. Hermione was still clad in nothing but the sheets so she felt like a piece of meat as she walked towards her dresser to put on some clothes, at least. She had the weirdest feeling that it was later than she thought, even though the house had been silent so far.

"I don't think you have ever looked this good," Draco said as he admired her. Her hair was tousled, her eyes still blurry with the last remnants of sleep and she was wearing a partially see-through sheet around her naked body. "Or shagged for that matter," he added as he stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Hermione leaned into him and caught a look at his watch; she jerked forward and started grabbing clothes out of her drawer.

"Merlin's pants, it's late. They should be up by now. Ginny, why did you have to burn all my clothes?" Hermione was a wreck as she tried to look for something semi-decent to wear.

"Are you alright, _cara_?" Blaise asked, confused; one moment she was leaning against Draco and the next she was a wild woman muttering about clothes and time.

"Yes, well no, I'm not sure. I can't find anything to wear, I have to take a shower, and I'm pretty sure Ron and Harry are up already," she said, counting them off on her fingers. Draco snorted and picked up his wand, pointed it at her and said a cleaning spell. She looked at him in surprise and smiled. "Thanks." Blaise stepped in and started looking though her clothes and found something for her to wear. He handed her a pair of black lacy hipsters and a matching black bra, a camisole and shimmering gold shirt to go over it, and finally black low rider jeans. She dressed quietly and looked at the both of them fondly. "Thank you," she said as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Are you going to cry?" Draco asked, a little panicked. Hermione shook her head, smiling, and tried to wipe the tears away. "If you don't like what you are wearing we will find you something else to wear," he said awkwardly.

"I like what I'm wearing," she answered in a small voice.

"Then why are you crying?" She shrugged. "Stop crying then," Draco said a little harshly. Blaise elbowed him and walked over to Hermione.

"What he means is, please don't cry, _bella_, it bothers us to see you cry when we don't know what is wrong," Blaise said, wiping away even more tears. Hermione threw her arms around him and kissed him deeply.

"This is the first time anyone has ever helped me dress and clean just because they wanted to. This is the first time anyone has taken care of me," she said as she walked to Draco and kissed him fiercely. Draco hugged her tightly and refused to let her go, even as she finished the kiss. Blaise smiled and walked towards the door, removing all the protective spells and opening it. Harry and Ron saw the door open and wasted no time in rushing in, only to be met by the sight of Draco embracing Hermione.

"I think we have some company, Draco," Blaise said as he casually walked over to the embracing couple. They broke apart and Hermione grabbed their hands, looking for comfort.

"What the hell is going on, Hermione?" Ron asked, shaking with anger. Hermione was about to answer when Draco squeezed her hand and spoke up.

"Nothing that concerns you, Weasel, but if you are just dying to know then the answer is very clear. Hermione has consented to be ours for as long as she so desires, because we do desire her. So, in laymen's terms, so you two can understand, she found two wizards who see her as more than vanilla." Draco loved the shocked and embarrassed looks Harry and Ron had on their face.

Blaise was next to speak; if they wanted to survive those two minutes they had to make sure Harry and Ron didn't speak.

"You see, unlike you two and that daft girl Lavender we don't see Hermione as 'vanilla', we see her more as chocolate. They way she melds with everything, creating new, exciting, and **tasty** products. We love how wild, how wanton and how vixen she can be while still being her. We love everything about her, even her know it all attitude and her obsession with knowledge, which is more than I can say for the two of you." Harry and Ron shook off their surprise and looked outraged.

"What are you trying to say, we love Hermione," Harry said indignantly; how could they question his feelings?

"Yeah right, and Snape loves unicorns. Face it, all the two of you have ever done is use her. Sure, you like her well enough and may even think of her as a sister, but you sure as fuck don't show it. I mean how many fights have the two of you had with her over stupid stuff or over her trying to protect you?" Draco said, still not giving Hermione a chance to speak. By his count they had less than a minute left and he was not a man to lose.

"Oh, because you have just been dandy towards her. You've been worse to us, Malfoy," Ron said furiously.

"You are right, he was an arse towards you two, but towards her he was a little kinder. Even if you didn't notice, because he only taunted her in front of you two and when she was alone because of you two he never approached her. So yeah, he is an arse but to say the least he was never actually her friend." Blaise said defending him, only about fifteen more seconds.

"Hermione, what are you doing with both of them? Why haven't you spoken? You've been _imperioed,_ haven't you?" Harry said, stepping forward, trying to get to her, but she just stepped back.

"No Harry, I haven't. I just came to realize that my enemies sometimes treat me better than my friends. I'm not sure if they love me as deeply as they say they do or if at all, but they have showed me more kindness and love in one night than you two have in two months. I fooled myself into thinking I loved you two, but you opened my eyes. I heard you yesterday, I heard you say all that you thought of me. I believed that no one could love me because I was so ordinary, but they proved me wrong. I'm sorry, guys, but for now I will stay with them, maybe until they realize that I'm not the right one for them, but I will enjoy my time with them." She grabbed their hands even more tightly and walked out of the room.


End file.
